Sign up for CodeRED Weather Warning alerts by clicking the image above that will take you to the CodeRED website for Pecos County.

Frequently asked questions about the CodeRED system

What is CodeRED?

CodeRED is an emergency notification service that allows emergency officials to quickly notify Pecos County residents and businesses by telephone, cell phone, text message, email and social media regarding time-sensitive general and emergency notifications. Only authorized officials have access to the CodeRED system.

Why is CodeRED important and how will I benefit from this service?

CodeRED will be used for emergency incidents and events where the timely notification to people in a specific geographic area is essential. Notifications can be an emergency situation, general info about incidents, or weather related, depending on your choice.
Examples of possible emergency notifications may include: chemical releases, emergency evacuation notices, natural disasters, or AMBER alerts.
General notices may be about natural gas leaks, water main breaks, boil water advisories, missing persons, crime alerts, and other information of importance to citizens.
Weather alerts are specific to tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings [not watches] and come directly via the National Weather Service depending on your choice.
If a critical event occurs that’s known to be immediately dangerous to life or health, an emergency notice will be used to provide information about what action needs to be taken and other updates as needed. General notifications may be about incidents occurring nearby that do not require any emergency action on your part.

What is the difference between an Emergency Notification, General Notification, and Severe Weather Notification?

Emergency Notifications will only be initiated if there is an immediate risk to your health or safety. If your phone number is known, you will receive an emergency notification if your geographic area is affected. This means if we have your phone number we will call you if it’s believed there is an imminent risk to your health or safety.

General Notifications can be any public safety related alert not deemed an imminent risk to health or safety. The residents and businesses of Pecos County must sign up to receive these alerts. OPT-IN means you must deliberately check a box on the webpage in order to get the general notifications. These can be notices of current incidents occurring nearby that you may want to know about even if they don’t present an immediate danger to you.

Severe Weather Warning Notifications are sent directly from the National Weather Service. You can choose to be alerted for Tornado, Severe Thunderstorm, and/or Flash Flood Warnings affecting your address. The residents and businesses of Pecos County must sign up to receive these alerts. OPT-IN means you must deliberately check a box on the webpage in order to get the weather notifications.

Does the CodeRED system replace other systems that have been used to provide time-sensitive information to residents?

This system is an enhancement to existing means of communication and is meant to supplement current or past systems used for mass notification.

Does this mean that the county will be calling me constantly?

Pecos County respects the privacy of its citizens and will only notify you when emergency situations arise that have the potential to be dangerous to your life or health. You will also be notified if you choose to receive general or weather alerts.

What do I have to do to receive this benefit? Does the county already have my phone number?

The service is free to all citizens within Pecos County. You are the most reliable source of information about how to reach your household or business by phone, so we highly encourage you to register. This is especially important if any of the following conditions are true:

• You would like to receive information as a text and/or email
• You have an unlisted phone number
• You have changed your phone number or address since the last time you registered
• You use a cellular phone as your home phone

Because Pecos County wants to reach to everyone possible in the event of an emergency, we have prepopulated CodeRED with publically available residential phone numbers and addresses. This means if you have a cell phone, unlisted, unpublished or new phone number you are not currently in our system. Remember, no one can keep up with your contact information as well as you can. The new system allows you the opportunity to change your information the very day you make a change.

How do I register?

The most convenient way to register is click on the CodeRED icon above.
Required information will be first and last name, physical street address (no P.O. boxes), city, state and zip code.
After you click to verify your information, please click on the map to zoom in and then click on the satellite link to make sure the dot is located in the correct spot of your residence. If it is not in the correct spot, click and hold on the dot and drag it over to your residence.
An alternate phone number, such as a cellular phone, can also be entered and both the primary and alternate line will be contacted in the event of an emergency.
The system works with cellular phones but requires the cell phone number to be associated with a street address in Pecos County.

Residents with a telephone but without internet access or have questions, can call Jessie Dominguez at the Pecos County Sheriff’s Office for further assistance.

There is a hearing impaired / speaking impaired function available on the signup page. It ensures the maximum amount of communication to the citizens of Pecos County. The check box for TDD / TTY devices is under the fields for entering the individual’s phone number on the signup page.

I have a business located in Pecos County. Can I arrange to have CodeRED contact my business?

Yes. Fill out the CodeRED registration form but be sure to select the “This address is business” option. Please note that emergency calls can only be delivered to a direct dial number where an actual person has to answer. Automated answering messages will disrupt the process and the calls will not be delivered.

What if I want to register additional numbers for my address?

After you submit the initial registration form, you may start the registration process again and submit more numbers for the same address. We encourage all Pecos County residents to sign up including your children who have cell phones and live in Pecos County.

Is my personal information protected?

CodeRED is a service of Emergency Communications Network which takes security and privacy concerns very seriously. They will not sell, trade, lease or loan any data citizen supplied data to third parties.

How will I recognize a CodeRED message?

A CodeRED Emergency message will have a caller ID of 866-419-5000.
A CodeRED General message will have a caller ID 855-969-4636.
A CodeRED National Weather Service message will have a caller ID of 800-566-9780.

We suggest you program these numbers in your cell phone as a “new contact” and use “CodeRED Emergency”, “CodeRED General”, and “CodeRED Weather” as the contact name.

If you need to replay the emergency notification message again, simply dial the number and you will be able to hear the message again.

What should I do if I receive a CodeRED message?

Listen carefully to the entire message. You will have the option to repeat the message by pressing any key. Do not call 911 for further information unless directed to do so or if you need immediate aid from the Law Enforcement, Fire, and/or EMS.

I have a cordless phone, and it does not work when the power goes out. How will the system be able to contact me?

Make sure you have at least one working corded telephone – and be sure to turn the ringer on. The CodeRED sign-up form allows you to indicate both a primary and alternate phone number. Cell phone and/or work phone numbers can be entered as alternate phone numbers. Both primary and alternate phone numbers will be contacted when a notification is sent.

Will the CodeRED system leave a message on an answering machine?

Yes, the CodeRED system will leave a message on a machine or on voicemail. The CodeRED system will leave the entire message in one pass.

What happens if my line is busy?

If your line is busy, CodeRED will try two more times to connect. Pecos County will receive a report of undelivered calls and can instruct the CodeRED system to begin another round of calls to busy numbers. It is best to have an alternate phone number in the calling database for these situations.

What should I do if I don’t receive a message?

The primary reasons you may not have received a call are:

• Your area of the community may not be affected. If that is the case, you won’t receive a call even if it’s only a block away.
• The system received a busy signal after three attempts to reach you.
• You have a telemarketing call block or other telezapper device on your phone or mobile device that has not been deactivated. If this is the case you need to program your phone to allow calls from 866-419-5000 (Emergency), 855-969-4636 (General), and 800-566-9780 (Weather).
• Your phone number and address don’t match up, or are not even in the system. Your contact information has been changed. In that case, click on the CodeRED icon above to register or change your information.